Easy way to improve your empathy
The empathy is an ability to understand and share feelings and emotions of another person. It is important for creation of good relations both at work, and in private life. The people who are not showing sympathy are considered cold and egocentric, and they often conduct the isolated life. Sociopaths, as we know, do not possess sympathy and vice versa, the sensitive person is perceived as sympathetic and careful.
The research shows that the empathy partially is congenital, and partially acquired, that is everyone can develop in itself(himself) this skill. Here eight ways to strengthen ability to sympathy:
1. Test yourself. Pass vital tests which will bring you out of comfort zone limits. Study new skill, for example, master a musical instrument, do new sport or begin to learn a foreign language. Develop new professional competence. Similar decisions do not allow to put on airs, and force to understand, as you can make mistakes is the key factor contributing to the development of empathy.
2. Leave the habitual environment. Travel, especially to new places and cultures – so you learn to appreciate people around and will become more tolerant to them. Read out the cultural code of each people on living examples or study it according to books – everything will be useful.
3. Receive feedback. Ask opinion of family, friends and colleagues about your skills of relationship (for example, ability to listen and not to give uninvited advice), and then periodically check them to learn whether you grew up to the best.
4. Trust your heart, and not just the head. Read the literature devoted to a personal relationship and emotions. In researches it was shown that it improves empathy of young doctors. So, as on you such tactics will work. After enrichment with food for reason, you are convinced that heart can be trusted and it is necessary.
5. Resemble in others shoes. Talk to others about what means to be on their place – learn about their problems and cares and also about how they apprehended experience which you shared. It is especially important to practice this method with children: so they learn that all people have different physical capacities, but each of them is valuable and important for society. In the modern world where businessmen and stars are considered as abrupt, it is important to emphasize that it is impossible to forget about others – those someone, for example, work in services industry.
6. Study the prejudices. All of us have hidden prejudices which prevent us to listen to people and to sympathize with them without condemnation. They are often connected with visible factors, such as age, race and floor. Do not you consider that you have prejudices? Think once again – all of us sometimes put on a white coat.
7. Develop curiosity. What can you learn at very young “inexperienced” colleague? What can you learn at the client whom you consider “narrow-minded”? Curious people also ask many questions, inducing themselves it is best to understand the people surrounding them.
8. Ask sensible questions. Do not ask about what can be understood by an observation method. You introduce three or four thoughtful, even a loaded question to each conversation with clients, colleagues or people closer to you. If you are afraid to offend the person, learn from him whether he minds to discuss this subject. Having received the negative answer, never go against will – at once you will become his sworn enemy.